Sometimes an ex doesn’t just ruin a song for you — they betray you with a song. That was the case with Annick Adelle, whose first queer relationship involved a lot of Shania Twain and a little bit of an evil breakup. She also talks us through recording her surprise live album, and how it put a whole new spin on hecklers.
Links:
Get Annick’s special and see her live on her website.
Courtney interviewed Shania Twain on the 20th anniversary of Come on Over and Diplo was not involved.
Courtney wrote a piece that really blew up that whole conversation on how the Rock Hall doesn’t have enough women in it.
And she went on the Hall Watchers podcast, which is a personal fave, recently.
Show Highlights:
00:30: When Barry Manilow and Shania Twain met, and a song got ruined for Annick.
08:00: Ruining a song for yourself after a breakup (and some Coldplay shade)
12:31: Annick’s remarkable and unusual experience recording a comedy album
19:09: Tuh-dum
Transcript:
Melissa: Hello and welcome to Songs My Ex Ruined, where we talk about songs that have been ruined by exes. I’m Melissa Locker.
Courtney: And I’m Courtney E. Smith.
Melissa: And today, we are here with comedian and comedian, Annick Adelle.
Courtney: First of all, thank you so much for being on the podcast, and we are all here today to hear about a song that an ex ruined for you. Please, tell us your story.
Annick Adelle: Thanks for having me, guys. A song my ex ruined for me, I think the, the, the most prominent one is “Looks Like We Made It.” I guess it was by Barry Manilow and then Shania Twain covered it. So it’s a very intense song about, you know, how against all odds, this couple, we made it, right? They said we’re never gonna make it yada, yada, but you and I baby, we made it, you know? And my ex used to play that song a lot, you know, because when we started dating, she was my first female person I dated. And so I was still in the closet a little bit about dating a woman, and generally identifying as queer, I guess, in that way. And so with her, over the span of like five years, you know, I kind of got more comfortable about it. But the odds were stacked against us because, right, I was this high shot corporate lawyer, and I was in the closet, and I was, I have this very strict family and to which I wasn’t out at all. And so, yeah, the, the odds were stacked against us. And so this song became a little bit anthem of like, no, we’re gonna make it. And I think just a week before we broke up, she sent it to me again. She’s like, baby, look, we’re, we’ve come so far and whatever. And then a week later she goes, “Hey, I met this other person…”
Courtney: Oh no.
Annick Adelle: “…and looks like we’re not gonna make it,” you know, like that. And I was like, oh, great. So, you know, I guess…
Courtney: Wait, wait, wait. wait. Did your ex say those words out loud to you, or was this in a text or an email or something?
Annick Adelle: Oh no, she said it.
Courtney: Ugh!
Annick Adelle: Out loud on a phone call, yeah.
Melissa: Wow, that’s evil. That says like, “Oh, I’m gonna ruin this song and our relationship.”
Courtney: And your life, just for a hot minute.
Annick Adelle: To be fair, I don’t know if she made a connection to the song, but…
Courtney: You certainly did.
Annick Adelle: I did. And because it was such an anthem during our relationship, I was like, wow, a week before you sent me the song and now you’re breaking up. Okay, great. So…
Courtney: So, did your ex play the Barry Manilow version or the Shania Twain version a lot?
Annick Adelle: It’s a Shania Twain version, which did you guys see that there’s a documentary about her?
Melissa: Oh yes.
Courtney: I watched it and boy does Shania Twain have some problematic friends. Why is Diplo in that documentary?
Annick Adelle: Oh, who’s that again?
Courtney: Diplo’s a DJ, and he’s a dirt bag. And he’s remixed some of her songs though, and he had a hot moment where he wanted to be a country artist.
Annick Adelle: Oh, I didn’t know that. That’s so weird.
Courtney: For some reason he’s in there and it’s just like, why? Shania Twain, so many people love you, why? Why put this…
Melissa: I do have to say though, looking at Shania’s oeuvre, Shania would absolutely not approve of your ex’s use of that song, in that way whatsoever. Shania would definitely say hell no.
Courtney: She would be on your side.
Annick Adelle: Look, I think every relationship, it’s not just one-sided. I think we were kind of at the end of our relationship. It’s not just all of a sudden out of the blue, but the first relationship cuts a little deeper than all the others. And so I think that’s kinda stuck with me too, that, you know. And it wasn’t just, “Hey, I think we’re falling out of love and let’s, let’s move on.” But it was, “Hey, I met somebody else and by the way, I’m leaving.” And so that, urm, that, that’s not good for the ego, I think, as well. And so, yeah, it wasn’t easy.
Courtney: It’s true. And by the way, you just referenced like maybe the originator song of the idea here. “The First Cut Is the Deepest” by Cat Stevens, covered by Sheryl Crow. It really captures the essence of that feeling that you’re discussing right now. What I’m also curious about is were these, were Barry Manilow or Shania Twain artists who you like cared about? Are you really missing something by getting reminded of this when you hear them? Or is this something that just waltzes its way into your world now and then, and you’re like, “Oof, brutal memories, goodbye.” Shut it out.
Annick Adelle: So, I don’t listen to them on, you know, Apple Music or anything. I don’t have their albums or you know, follow artists and then you shuffle through them. I don’t do that, but Barry Manilow, I mean, love that guy, love his music ever since Ally McBeal.
Courtney: Oh, okay.
Melissa: Classic throwback, good.
Courtney: Good, good reference, yeah.
Annick Adelle: Yeah? Ever, ever since then I was like, “Oh yes, Barry Manilow, you know, is such a great groove.” And so I love that guy. But because it’s more the Shania Twain version that we listened to, and now watching the documentary of Shania Twain, memories definitely came up for me. And uh, I was like, “Oh yeah, right. Looks like we didn’t make it.” So I don’t listen to that song anymore.
Melissa: You guys, something amazing has happened. My phone just lit up and I literally just got an email about a Shania Twain album. It’s very weird.
Annick Adelle: Wow.
Courtney: That’s synchronicity.
Annick Adelle: No, no, no, that’s the phone listening. That’s Apple.
Courtney: That’s Google, yeah, fair.
Melissa: Have you ever been somewhere and heard this song? Like you’re at the grocery store just trying to pick out some yogurt, and the song on and you’re like, “I can’t buy yogurt. I’m sad.”
Annick Adelle: No, no, no, It’s it’s worse. When, uh, I, I listened to it recently in an elevator, you know, this elevator music, and now you can’t do anything against this because you’re in the elevator. And it was like 34th floor. So I was like, thank you.
Melissa: Oh, you’re like, “I’m gonna get off.”
Annick Adelle: Because otherwise, you just like switch channels or anything, but you can’t in an elevator.
Courtney: Wow, that’s brutal.
Melissa: That’s a long elevator ride.
Annick Adelle: But this has been like years. I am over it but it has this weird connotation because it was so mean, in a way. It’s still in my system a little bit.
Melissa: I hate it though, when you are like at a grocery store or trapped in an elevator and the song comes on and you’re like, “I can’t.” I mean, I think it’s because I’m so kind of generally attuned to the music. But I just remember like Joni Mitchell’s “River” came on, and I was already feeling like moody and like not having a great day and I was just trying to pick up, you know, cereal and fruit. And I go to the grocery store and the song comes on and I’m just like, “Am I gonna end up crying in the yogurt aisle? don’t wanna the yogurt aisle.” It’s just embarrassing.
Annick Adelle: Is that your song that your ex ruined for you?
Melissa: Oh no, it’s just a sad song. It’s just incredibly sad.
Courtney: She just has a lot of feelings, even in the grocery store.
Annick Adelle: Isn’t that, isn’t that crazy?
Melissa: And if I’m gonna cry anywhere, it should be in Build-a-Bear, because Build-a-Bear is the best place to cry in the world.
Annick Adelle: Songs are really powerful. I’m, I’m not gonna— songs and smells, right? Like, had this one perfume. Every time somebody wears it, I’m like, hypersensitive. I’m like, “Wait, wait, wait. Where is she?” You know, and it’s like, oh wait, somebody else has the perfume as well.
Courtney: Like, most of my songs that exes have ruined for me are like the Beatles catalog. I had a, an ex who was a big fan and just the whole thing, like there’s too many songs that are associated with him that is seared into my brain. So yeah, people don’t just ruin songs for me Annick, they ruin entire artists.
Annick Adelle: Oh. okay.
Melissa: They go down in flames!
Courtney: It’s like, “Burn it!”
Melissa: My brother technically ruined that National album for me, but just because he listened to it nonstop. And like he was a full grown person who had shuffle, he could have played something different and he never did. Just that album over and over again. Cannot listen it.
Annick Adelle: Oh, I get that. Like songs on repeat, I’ve done it. I’ve been guilty of that. Like especially when somebody leaves you, there’s this one song where you always cry and you’re like, “Yep, I’m playing that nonstop. So just just so I can cry, cry, cry.”
Courtney: I feel like I’ve ruined songs for myself doing that. Like I have different playlists I’ve made after breakups that are very specific to that breakup. And they’re not even songs I shared with that person, but it’s like that song is now forever associated to that breakup because I played it into the ground.
Annick Adelle: Same, same, same.
Melissa: Okay, this is gonna take a dark turn for a quick second. My aunt passed away recently and I was very emotional and I knew I wanted to just go walk around and I was like, I know I wanna listen to something and I don’t wanna listen to a podcast, so I’m gonna listen to music. But I was like, what music do I hate enough that I’m gonna be okay with ruining it? And I decided to listen to cold. Coldplay.
Courtney: Yeah, fuck Coldplay. Sorry, nice people, but come on.
Annick Adelle: Really?
Melissa: I was just like, I’m just gonna turn on Coldplay and walk around. And I was in Amsterdam listening…
Courtney: Listening to “Yellow?” Just let it be gone forever.
Melissa: And I’m just gonna have this associate forever, like, my aunt passing with “Yellow.” And it’s gonna be perfect, cause I never liked that song anyway. And it’s sort of emotional, but not too emotional. And I’m just gonna let it burn.
Annick Adelle: I love that. That’s actually very smart. And I love also that you guys don’t like Coldplay. Cause I, I always feel like I’m the only person on this planet. But it’s very reassuring that you guys also are like, no, nuh-uh.
Courtney: It’s just so average, like it’s fine. It’s perfectly fine. One of my closest, closest friends, when I moved to New York the first time and was working at MTV when the first Coldplay album came out, she was really obsessed with them. And she was really into a lot of British bands. When she came to visit me, they happened to be coming and I was like, “Well, come up to the studio and you can like meet them and it’ll be great cause you love them.” And she was so like, her level of excitement was so intense and I was just like, I still don’t know how you care this much. Like she just went to see them on their tour this year. Her level of excitement has not waned. She loves them. People love them.
Annick Adelle: My former best friend, absolutely obsessed with them, and then they came to her town and she couldn’t afford to go there, and I was like, “Oh, I have some money right now so I can, you know, I can buy the tickets for her.” So I bought the tickets for her, not knowing what that’s gonna cause. Like for months, months she would talk about this concert and send me videos and how they partied. And I was like, “It’s just a fucking song we’ve heard millions of times.” But she was, “And then they had this color and then they…” I don’t know, they had like a band that you put on around your wrist and everything was glowing, the entire stadium. And I was like,”Yeah, I mean I’ve, we’ve seen this.” It’s not special, but yeah, you can’t convince them otherwise. They’re hardcore fans.
Melissa: Yeah, I will say in Coldplay’s defense, well, rather in Chris Martin’s defense, I believe Courtney and I were both at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony where he got up and inducted Peter Gabriel.
Courtney: Yes.
Melissa: And that man can read a previously written speech like no one else.
Courtney: Which is a talent not all musicians have, as we learned that year at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Annick Adelle: Really?
Courtney: Oh yeah.
Melissa: He was really funny. Like he had people cracking up, and we are very like cynical grouchy journalists and we were busting up laughing. I don’t think he wrote the speech, but if he did, congratulations, that was good. He should go work in a writer’s room, but even if he just delivered it, it was really funny and it actually made me like him just this much more.
Annick Adelle: I, I know that a lot of people have an actual crush on him. Like my, my former best friend also did, totally. And I’m, I mean, I’m not into men, but I, I, I can see he is a feeling guy. He’s British or whatever.
Melissa: He’s like that character in Love, Actually who just is like, if you just go to America and you’re British, all the girls will love you.
Courtney: Because you have a British accent. You can say the stupidest shit in the world, but with a British accent.
Annick Adelle: Isn’t that the truth? Look, and the same goes for French people. Either, either people hate French people or they’re like, “Oh, the accent is so sexy.” And I’m always like, right, and I’m originally from Germany. I have nothing. Nobody’s gonna go, “Oh, that German accent’s so sexy.” You know what I mean? I’m always little erh, but ok.
Courtney: Somebody will.
Annick Adelle: I’m trying to make it sexy.
Courtney: You can. Somehow it will happen. Something about the romance languages, I think, but I can’t explain it. You are a bit of a recording artist yourself, in a way, in a manner of speaking. Because you’re a comedian who’s recorded an album. We’ve actually been working on another podcast where we heard about this from some indie labels in the 2000s that started signing comedians. And one of the people told us very glibly and offhand that they did it because they were like,”This has to be cheaper than recording bands. You just need like one microphone in a room, right?” They quickly learned that was not the case, but I’d like to hear about your unique experience recording your new comedy album.
Annick Adelle: That’s so interesting. I love that there is this intersection between music and comedy and how it’s different. I mean, I’m not in the music world, right, at all. But I was very surprised to begin with that there is an audience that just listens to audio. Because in my mind it was always, “No, no, no. Comedy is the full experience. You watch it, you hear it. You see the mimic, you see the gestures, you see close up, far away, right? Like it’s very visual,” I thought. And then, when I started doing comedy, more and more people were like, “Oh yeah, I just released an album.” I was like, that exists. That is so funny. In my mind, it doesn’t lend itself to audio that well. But then you see a lot of albums on Apple Music and Spotify and whatnot. And I was like, oh, ok. Well, and so I was talking to the production team here of who produced my, my album, Blonde Medicine. And they were like, “No, it’s a huge market and we wanna, we wanna produce it.” And I was like, okay. And it was more than one microphone. Sure, you can take my hot mic, right, and my voice, but then you’re not gonna capture the audience’s reaction. As we all know, when you do comedy, that’s just as important cause people say it’s a monologue, but it’s not. It’s an actual dialogue. Oh, there’s laughter and there’s reactions. And in my case, I love crowd interactions, right? And particularly my album, people did not know that we were taping. So I wanted them to not know. It would be fresh and completely, you know, authentic.
Melissa: It was a a surprise?
Annick Adelle: They were surprised in the end, right? At the when told them. Obviously we got their consent, right. I’m not gonna be an asshole about about it.
Courtney: Of course, of course.
Annick Adelle: But I don’t want, like a lot of people do, just invite all their friends and say, “Oh, it’s a taping, so you better laugh, laugh your asses off,” right? Kind of like that. And then it’s not authentic. I don’t want that. It’s specifically set up like this. And I’ll say there were at least five microphones: in the audience, in the back, where I am, obviously my hot mic. And that was really good because when I was talking to people, you could hear them on the tape. So, I’m glad we did that.
Courtney: That’s such a neat idea.
Melissa: Yeah, and was anyone in the audience being really obnoxious? Like did you have to be like, “Oh, pipe down you, we’re taping?”
Annick Adelle: No, I didn’t tell them I was taping, right. I had two people in the front row who were completely drunk the first evening.
Melissa: Oh no.
Annick Adelle: And I was like, this is perfect. You know, when you have drunk people, it can be funny, but you also don’t wanna make fun of them because you don’t wanna judge why they’re drunk. But at the same time, I wanna do a couple of jokes and you don’t wanna ruin it for the others. So I had to tell them to pipe down a little bit, in a nice way. And I think I managed but you know, with drunk people, when you go, “Hey girl, can you, can you pipe it down a little bit?” Then drunk people would go, “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m, I’m so sorry.” You know, like that. And then the owner in between, you know, my jokes goes to them like, can you please keep it down? And then she, again, she was like, “Yeah, I’m so sorry.” You know, like that. So the first night was a little tricky, but I also got a good joke out of it. And then we taped a second night just so I could get more jokes in. And the jokes that were probably ruined by that couple we could take out.
Courtney: Wait, did you take them out or did you leave them in?
Annick Adelle: I— so the jokes with them, I left them in. Cause the guy of that couple, he was also very drunk. He’s a very, he was a, he was a big guy, right? So I have this joke where I go, “Oh, for the first time in my life, because of my gender journey, I bought weight, weights, you know, to lift weights. I’ve never done this.” Right? And so, and then he goes, “Yeah, I have a lot of weight too, haha.” You know, like that, and I was like…
Courtney: Oh boy.
Annick Adelle: I was trying not to, you know, bash his or shame him in any way, but, but also make you know, fun with him.
Melissa: He’s also being a pain in the butt, so go for it.
Courtney: Well, yeah, he kind of deserves whatever he brings upon himself.
Melissa: Yeah, but speaking of deserving things you bring on yourself: So I worked at Kill Rock Stars when they first started signing a lot of comedians and comedy albums, like making a comedy album is really hard. Why on earth did you make it even harder by not letting anyone know? Like, do you just love a challenge? Are you a masochist? Like, what’s happening here?
Annick Adelle: It’s two things for me. One is, yes, there’s a little bit this element of if it’s not hard, it’s not good, you know, kinda thing. Which I’m working on. You know, why does everything have to be so hard? But the second one is, I want authenticity and it’s all or nothing for me. So, if I can’t do it the way I want to do it, I, I’m not sure I wanna do it. And, the trickiest part for me was to, not the authenticity, cause I knew I could handle it, you know? That’s what I do and that’s what I love. The tricky part for me was that I’m one of those comedians who goes on stage and doesn’t know what they’re gonna talk about, right. But with an album, you can’t do that. You have to have a little bit of a storyline, not even just a storyline. I wanted to have a message, and I wanted the end to be boom, the crescendo of it all, right. So that’s where I was like, oh, but I want it to flow. I don’t wanna have like, okay, this joke, then this joke, then this joke, then this joke. So I had a concept of the topics and I did that, but till the very end, I did not know how to end the album. And that was the scary part for me. Like in the minute of the ending, I was like, “How do I end the show?” And then it came to me and I found an ending.
Melissa: You just start playing “Looks Like We Made It”?
Courtney: Wow, wow.
Annick Adelle: I should have.
Courtney: I mean, that would actually be a great thing to add your set now. That story, and then end with…
Annick Adelle: And then, and then go, “I dedicate this album to my ex-girlfriend.”
Melissa: You can have that one for free.
Annick Adelle: I actually have this joke about my ex-girlfriend that, I just wanna get a Netflix special so that I can come out after the dum-dum Netflix and then go, “Look, Christine, that could have been you.” And then walk out.
Courtney: Wow.
Melissa: Nice.
Annick Adelle: That’s so petty. And I would like it.
Melissa: Aw, I think Netflix would definitely fund your pettiness. That sounds reasonable.
Courtney: A hundred percent.
Melissa: I would watch it, I know. I would stream that multiple times. I’d probably make a loop and just laugh.
Annick Adelle: And then send it to all your ex-boyfriends and girlfriends and be like, yeah.
Courtney: I’d be following the Twitter thread of internet sleuths trying to figure out who Christine is.
Annick Adelle: I actually mentioned her, that that is her name. And I mentioned it on, on a YouTube recording recently and then they published it. And no, I was like, “Guys, can you take this down cause I can’t…” I mean in America, I don’t care. But this was in Germany, so I was like, no, my ex-girlfriend lives in Germany.
Melissa: Anyway, well, thank you so much for coming in. Can you tell people where they can find you? Remind people the name of the album.
Annick Adelle: Sure and thanks for having me girls. I love that you’re these boss bitches in music and, and all, I dunno, first in, in what you do. You can find me probably easiest like everybody else on Instagram at that’s A-doublen-i-c-k A-d-e-double-l-e, and I publish my shows there. Where I’m next in what town, etcetera. And then the album link is on there too. And I have a homepage where you can also find all that stuff, and that’s just my name altogether. www.annickadelle.com
Courtney: And I’m gonna assume we can find your album everywhere albums are streamable?
Annick Adelle: Yes.
Courtney: Awesome.
Melissa: Thank you so much for joining us.
Courtney: Thank you!
Annick Adelle: Thank you.
Melissa: I feel like I could make another “Looks Like We Made It” joke here.
Courtney: In the style of Barry Manilow or in the style of Shania Twain? I mean, I vote for Manilow.
Melissa: And I vote for Shania cause…
Courtney: Well, then…
Melissa: …she’s Shania.
Courtney: We’re gonna leave on a dissonant note in that case.
Melissa: Annick, you can be the tiebreaker.
Annick Adelle: I’ll say, oh, Shania.
Courtney: Oh, foiled again. Thank you so much.
Courtney: Thanks for joining us for another episode of Songs My Ex Ruined. If you’re enjoying the podcast, give us a review or rating on your favorite app and it will really help. And hey, subscribe to get new episodes as soon as they drop.
Melissa: Songs My Ex Ruined is a production of Nevermind Media. Executive Producers are Melissa Locker and Courtney E. Smith. Produced and edited by Stephanie Aguilar. Sound design and theme song by Madeline McCormick. Artwork by Sophie. Additional production support from Casey, Steve, Archer, Bemo Newton, and all the other good dogs and cats out there.
